19th century inventor Charles Babbage never lived to finish his analytical engine, a punchcard computer that was decades ahead of its time, but now Babbage aficionados are finally building this device. Jennifer Oullette of Cocktail Party Physics has the details.»10/16/10 11:45am 10/16/10 11:45am

In real life, Charles Babbage was a relatively unknown inventor who pioneered early computers. In modern alternate reality fiction, Babbage is a mad genius and steampunk icon. Here are some authors who resurrected Babbage's career a century later. »3/28/10 1:02pm 3/28/10 1:02pm